10+ Things I Learned With my First DSLR

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Max Slowik
Kurtis
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May. 19, 2008

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The End Bit

I feel like I should say that all this isn't anti-point-and-shoot. Now that I have a *cough* real camera, I can use my Canon PowerShot A95 and take really good photos. I didn't know how before I got the DSLR, but it sure made learning much easier. Possible, even.

But I don't know that I'd have ever learned how to take pictures with just the point and shoot. It can be done, but I'm impatient. If none of this sounds like it could be fun, or rather, if any of this sounds like too much trouble, then wait on buying a DSLR.

There is a middle step: Entry Level DSLR + The Kit Lens. Yeah, it's crap, from a $500 lens' perspective. It's absolutely better than point-and-shoots, though, and the whole thing can be had for way less than you might expect. If you're sure that you're not going to go glass-wild and melt the stripes off your credit cards, and that you can avoid dropping the fat stacks on more, faster, and brighter, it's not a bad choice at all. You can learn how to shoot manual, and you can fall back on auto. And the photos will be better.

Three Rants:

1) My megapixels are so much better than your megapixels. I was taking some photos when a dude walked up to me and asked me how many megapixels my camera had. I told him six, and he whips out his little red camera, which looked like a pill from Dr. Mario but for the stickers still on it, and says that his camera is superior because it has "twice the megas." No joke, he really said that. I asked him how much he paid, and he goes, "$180, I bought it Christmas at Costco." I told him I spent four times that much, and for a split second, he looks at me like I overpaid. Then it dawned on him: maybe it's marketing...

Yeah, pal, it is.

2) Ansel Adams jacked around with his developing, film, and prints. Digital isn't inferior to film because you can mess around with your photos and chop 'em. You can, and great photographers do, tweak film processing. Digital is more accessible, that's all. I would never have picked up a camera in my life if I had to pay for film and never found out that I like taking pictures. (Irony: I could have bought and developed 784 rolls of film for what I spent on this camera.)

3) You shouldn't have to use "Ten Things" to get dugg, but, there you have it.

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Page 1: My First DSLR
Page 2: What I Expected, What Surprised Me
Page 3: My Findings
Page 4: My Findings, continued...
Page 5: The End Bit

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6 User Comments

1 - Posted by aireiq on May 20, 2008 - 3:02 pm

> [Editor: Max has been hounding me for weeks to purchase this lens for him. On behalf of TheTechLounge. Because he totally needs it for product shots...]

So did you buy it for him?

2 - Posted by aireiq on May 20, 2008 - 3:03 pm

I mean, since he seems to be responsible for something like 90% of your content....

3 - Posted by Kurtis on May 20, 2008 - 5:45 pm

No, we didn't buy it for him. But I'm REALLY considering it. ;-)

4 - Posted by handrail on May 20, 2008 - 10:54 pm

me and my clunker D70 will take you and your pentax on any day, max!

brad.

5 - Posted by justsomebody on October 30, 2008 - 10:33 pm

Hi!

i read all your articles on slr cameras and i am really interested in getting one. i know you recommended some cameras, but what other things do will i need to start off eg lens etc? i'm looking at cameras now and there are lots of different bundles i can get - or should i just get the standard kit?? i'm just going to take pix of friends, bdays, holidays - nothing fancy!

Thanks!

Ps ur articles are really cool, easy to understand and funny!

6 - Posted by Kurtis on October 31, 2008 - 12:35 am

My recommendation, if you're just getting started, is to just go with the kit lens. That's a great starting point. If you get more serious about it, you'll learn the ins-and-outs of the camera and the limitations of the kit lens, and that's where things start to get really expensive. But that's the best place to start. :)

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